Edison Lombana, left, parks one of the eight bicycles he bought during the St. Augustine Police bicycle auction Saturday.

By MATT MAY, Staff

Everything has to sit for 90 days unclaimed before being auctioned, Mahr said.

Some bikes sold for more than $50. Some sold for a quarter, though every bid stared at $1. Some items were hard to even give away.

"Do I hear a dollar?" Braddock asked after opening bids on an old computer. "A dollar bid? Does anybody want it? Where's the trash can?"

The computer was eventually claimed. Although, most items were easier to sell.

Hannah Pane, 9, left the auction with a new bike and a smile. She said she wanted the bike, which her dad paid $50 for, because she outgrew her old one.

"The other one was tiny for me, the chain kept falling off," she said, adding that her new bike was the same kind most of her friends had.

"It's her first speed bike," Hannah's mother, Deborah, said.

Peter Post of Penfield, N.Y., was also looking for a new bike, even though he said he recently bought one.

"I'm just on vacation here for a couple of months, and I was just looking for a cheap bike I could ride on the beach," he said.

Edison Lombana of Palatka bought bikes right and left. After the auction, he said he had almost 30.

"Some of them I recycle," Lombana said. "Some of them I sell. Some of them I give to little kids who don't have any."

Roy Qualls walked away with a fishing rod. He was on his way to use it when he left the parking lot.

"Yeah, I'm happy with it," Qualls said. "I paid $7 for it."

The auction began at 9 a.m. and continued through 10:30 a.m. Before it started, people were roaming the parking lot and making mental notes on items to bid on.

Trixie Friederich said she was just tagging along with a friend but wouldn't rule out the possibility of making a purchase.

"You never know what's coming up," she said after the auction was under way. "They had a couple of surprises they brought out."

Larry Robeson viewed the abandoned bikes, some with broken chains and warped wheels, and said he didn't see anything special. However, he was quick to add that he was waiting to see what the bidding prices were on the bikes and other items before leaving.

"I'm scared to go to auctions, because you always end up with stuff you didn't plan to buy," Robeson said.

This was shortly before Braddock rummaged through the items in the bed of the pickup and hoisted a weed trimmer in the air for the crowd to see.

"I got a first-class Weedeater," Braddock said. "Don't ask me if it runs 'cause I have no idea."

The trimmer went for $50, although not to Robeson.

The auction, which the police department tries to do twice a year, but only once in the past year, is a way to free up space and give people good deals, Mahr said.

"We're not trying to make money with it," Mahr said. "It's a service to the people."

Mahr would not say how much money was raised, but it all went to the Police Benevolent Association of the St. Augustine Police Deparment. The association gives money to charities and retired police officers, Mahr said.